Buckle up. CUPE's not backing down.

Plus, Ford's Greenbelt land swap, a NORC in High Park, and 130 years of the Star [Get access now!]( [The Star] First Up [By Ashley Okwuosa] By Ashley Okwuosa Good morning. You might have noticed it’s been a foggy few days. Here’s why one meteorologist says it’s [not uncommon for this time of year](. Here’s the latest. MUST READS Lance McMillan/The Star provincial politics [CUPE school workers “are not backing down”]( 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees walked off the job Friday and warned parents to expect schools to remain in limbo next week. Education workers and their supporters gathered at Queen’s Park and across the province to protest the Ford government’s Keeping Students in Class Act, which overrode Charter rights and imposed a four-year contract on school support workers. Kristin Rushowy, Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson report on the government’s response to the strike and why the [unions that endorsed the Tories last spring have denounced the premier’s recent actions]( while Dhriti Gupta, Isabel Teotonio and Alessia Passafiume report on [the parents joining education workers on the picket line](. R.J. Johnston/The Star environment [Why did Ontario backtrack on its Greenbelt pledge? ]( The Ontario government announced plans Friday to open up 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt land for developers to build 50,000 homes in exchange for adding 9,400 acres to other areas of the two-million-acre swath of environmentally sensitive land. The news came as a surprise to many, since the government promised just last year it wouldn’t “entertain any conversations about a land swap.” Robert Benzie, Noor Javed and Tess Kalinowski report on the government’s plans for the Greenbelt, and [why one politician believes this will put more protected land in jeopardy](. Paige Taylor White/The Star the third act [Canada hasn’t embraced “natural” retirement communities — but these High Park condos could succeed where others have failed]( Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, or NORCs, take shape when an unintentionally high number of older condo or apartment inhabitants are aging in place. In three condos north of High Park, University Health Network is modelling a new NORC Innovation Centre (NIC) to help residents plan for support as they age, including exercise classes, social activities, and expert discussions on caregiving or pain management. While supported NORCs have taken root in New York and other states, Canada hasn’t fully embraced the idea. For the Star’s Third Act series, Moira Welsh [reports on the High Park program and why some are calling for a nationwide NORC strategy](. Steve Russell/The Star emergencies act inquiry [The Emergencies Act probe is an inquiry like no other]( A week of testimony by “Freedom Convoy” organizers and participants ended Friday with protest organizers downplaying their leadership roles, alleging police never told them to leave, claiming they received sympathetic police leaks and only ever saw peaceful acts by protesters, but violence by police and counterprotesters. After 17 days of testimony, it is unclear how the evaluation of the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act is going, Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall report. But one thing remains clear: this is a federal inquiry like no other. [Here’s why one lawyer called it “the strangest proceeding” he’s ever been involved in](. Toronto Star the star turns 130 [To mark the Toronto Star’s 130th anniversary, here are 130 memories of its marvels, mischief and missteps ]( For 130 years, the Toronto Star has been telling the stories of Toronto, the vast province of Ontario, Canada and the world beyond it. To mark the milestone, [here are 130 stories of everything from the Star’s historic leaders, the disasters that landed on the paper’s front page, and the newspaper wars of the 1950s and ’60s](. POV Edward Keenan: The CUPE strike shows [Doug Ford learned how to negotiate from the schoolyard bully](. Andrew Phillips: Large-scale immigration may be popular, [but we can’t get complacent on the potentially volatile issue](. Vinay Menon: Looking for your soulmate? [Then inflation hitting the dating scene is a good thing](. Adrienne Clarkson: Most older Canadians want to age at home. [Why are we making it so hard for them?]( Donovan Vincent: “Gay is not yet a permitted term.” [A look at a 1980s-era Star stylebook shows how the paper and society have evolved](. Jennifer Carr: We need a plan for Indigenous rural and remote communities to [get the health care they deserve](. try THIS Getty Images Are you “skin cycling?” Popularized by New York-based dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe, skin cycling is the answer to the complex, multi-step routines that have become standard in the beauty world, writes Melissa Fejtek. [Here’s why Tik Tok is loving the less-is-more skin care trend — and why you might, too]( Thanks for reading. You can reach the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_152522), and I will see you back here tomorrow. 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